First Light were a concoction of mid-70's jazz-rock, jazz-fusion and progressive rock with prominent and proficient interplay between the sax, electric piano and the electric guitar with the occasional moog lead similar to other Aussie bands Mackenzie Theory and Crossfire. Their music was predominantly instrumental. Their one and only album was privately released on the M.F.S. label, which had been based out of the Music Farm Studios in Coorabell, Northern NSW. First Light consisted of most notably, Ron Carpenter on drums and mellotron, who was the main composer for Australian prog-rock band Aleph, and drummed for AC/DC at one point in time. John Gray and Harry Freeman were also in the progressive rock band Aeon.

“Percussionist extraordinaire Joby Burgess” returns with his fifth album on Signum Records, “A Percussionist’s Songbook” – a collection of specially commissioned ‘songs without words’ from John Metcalfe, Tunde Jegede, Dario Marianelli, Yazz Ahmed, Graham Fitkin, Dobrinka Tabakova and Gabriel Prokofiev. Scored for an arsenal of pitched percussion and electronics the songbook is inspired by texts ranging from the poetry of Robert Graves and Birago Diop to novels by Michael Ondaatje and Isaac Asimov; American philosopher Michael Sandel, songwriter Peter Gabriel, United Nation population growth statistics and Saudi Arabian folk tales.

Not very forthcoming as a person, Chopin reserved for the piano alone the secret – rather than the confidences or confessions – of his inner being. It is as if the piano were his double, resonating in harmony with his sensibility and receiving his feelings, his impressions, even his hallucinations.

Mild, smooth trio date with Byrd playing light jazz, occasional Afro-Latin, and even a mock classical number, backed by bassist Joe Byrd and drummer Bertell Knox. This sometimes comes close to, but never becomes, mood music. The 2000 reissue approximately doubles the length of the original release with seven previously unissued tracks (none alternate versions) cut at the same live sessions. The extra material is stylistically consistent with the rest of the disc, encompassing pop ("The Way We Were"), classic jazz ("It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"), Vivaldi's "Concerto in G," and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Meditation."

The Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg has been the scene of countless memorable musical events - operas, concerts and recitals - for 50 years. Here is a unique chance to celebrate the glories of this distinguished era. In an exceptional collaboration with the Salzburg Festival, we have prepared a 25-CD box set - 5 complete operas, 10 concerts and 2 recitals - featuring many of the world's greatest artists, in recordings with classical status and others that are appearing on CD for the first time. Concerts (five out of ten are first-time releases): with Abbado, Bernstein, B hm, Boulez, Karajan, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Solti. Soloists include Anne-Sophie Mutter and Jessye Norman.

The three world premiere recordings featured here comprise the complete works for piano and orchestra by both composers (an early student concerto by Cowen appears lost).
In his day Cowen was a hugely successful contemporary of Stanford and Parry and it is surprising that his music has not yet been revived on disc. The Concertstück was written in 1897 for Padereswki, who gave the premiere to much acclaim. The work is notable for its orchestral colour and a great understanding of virtuoso piano writing and reveals what a master of his art the composer was.